Fargo, ND man appeals after rejection of atheist license plate

[Ian David]

Fargo man appeals after rejection of atheist license plate

A Fargo man says the state has violated the separation of church and state by rejecting ISNOGOD for his personalized license plate.

In an appeal letter to the state’s Department of Transportation director, Brian Magee said the state has allowed other vehicles to carry plates with religious messages, including PRZZGOD, ILOVGOD and TRI GOD, which he included photos of.

“(I)f the state only allows one point of view on religion to be expressed on its property (the license plates), then it is an endorsement of that point of view,” Magee wrote.

<snip>

Magee said the reason behind the rejection was that it might offend people who would challenge the plate and might cause the state to have to recall it.

More:
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/article_bf0ff282-6557-11df-9bb3-001cc4c03286.html

Hat-tip to: http://twitter.com/theselfishmeme/status/14538885862

[hlthe2b]

1. Unfortunately, that plate would likely get him killed...

by those "loving" religious hypocrits.

[RC]

2. Not really. It would guarantee he'd get his car keyed though.

Tires slashed, windows broken.

[MineralMan]

3. While I think he should be allowed his plate,

it seems a pointless thing to me. I'm a strong atheist, but I have no reason to broadcast that to the world. It's irrelevant to believers, and deliberately provocative. What's the point?

[Cowpunk]

9. Do feel the same way about gay pride rainbow stickers?

Or do you just live somewhere atheists aren't looked upon with derision and suspicion?

[Berry Cool]

4. "ISNOGOD" means nothing without words preceding it.

I assume he wants others to assume the word "There" precedes it. But really, so what? He wants to tell the word "There is no God." Does he really think just putting that on his plates will make believers who see them smack themselves in the head and say, "Oh! Really?? Wow!! I didn't know that! Thanks for straightening me out, Mr. Atheist! Please, go spread the word to everyone else wherever you drive so others will be similarly enlightened!!"

Really, the egotistical presumptuousness of such a thing is just as bad as that of any proselytizing Christian.

OTOH, it's quite possible to imagine all kinds of other words preceding "ISNOGOD." Such as:

--George W. Bush
--Sarah Palin
--Ayn Rand
--Rand Paul

Take your pick.

I like to focus on those options.

[Goblinmonger]

12. I know what you mean,

those atheists were so much more cool when they just stayed in the closet and kept their damn mouths shut. THOSE atheists we liked a lot.

Sometimes it just amazes me.

[rug]

5. Was FISHLEGS taken?

[starroute]

6. If plates can be challenged, then, why not challenge PLZZGOD?

Seems to me that if Magee can't get the plate he wants, and if the state really does allow third parties to challenge particular plates, there's a huge opportunity there to demonstrate official hypocrisy.

[Odin2005]

7. Just read about this at the local newspaper website.

"Might offend"? people don't have a right NOT to be offended! :grr:

[darkstar3]

8. To everyone:

It's a legal gambit. The state has allowed many religious plates but clearly has a one-sided view on such items. I don't know how it works in ND, but here in MO you'd have to challenge each plate individually, and after a couple of challenges from a single person they'd simply consider you a legal nuisance and stop listening to you.

There is no way in hell that a state court, especially in the midwest, is going to allow ISNOGOD on a license plate. But if the cards are played right, all plates of a religious nature will have to be banned and recalled in order to avoid a clear Establishment Clause violation.

[Ian David]

11. I thought that was obvious. Are there some people who aren't it-getters to who this is a surprise?nt

[Silent3]

13. There are not-it-getters...

...posting elsewhere in this very same thread. Hence the reason for the post to which you just replied.

[Silent3]

14. Not that I'd want to live with the results if they were approved...

...but SATANIC or PRZSATAN might be interesting gambits to try against the pro-Christian bias of the approval process.

Then again, when it comes to PRZSATAN, which I'd intend to be read as "Praise Satan", it could instead be read as "Prez (President) Satan". For teabaggers happy to interpret that as "Obama is Satan!", they might giddily endorse that message.

[darkstar3]

15. That's why you take after the Christmas Critters and say HLSATAN.

I don't know why, but every time I see that episode I laugh when the critter pops in from the corner on the title screen and says "hail satan!" in that voice...sometimes South Park really is hilarious.

[Silent3]

16. I didn't want to give away what we atheists say all the time...

...since we're all secretly satanists, after all. :evilgrin:

[Ian David]

10. A few years back a woman with the plates, "BSaved" pulled alongside me and smiled.

I mouthed the words, "Fuck you," to her, and she went absolutely ballistic.

I mean, she was literally screaming with her arms waving around like mad inside her car.

IMHO, IMSAVED is fine. RUSAVED is tolerable (barely) but BSAVED is beyond the pale.

How dare she presume to tell someone else that they should "Be Saved."

Of course, I later thought, "What if her name is Belinda Saved" (pronounced Sah-vedd)?

Could I possibly have been the first one to express displeasure with BSAVED?

Could it possibly have come as a surprise that someone would have?